What causes a senior Yorkie to be off food, sad, and lethargic?

Poor Charlie! There are several things that can cause him to be lethargic and not eat like kidney or liver disease, an infection, a tumor/cancer, general GI upset, parasites, and much more. Since he has an extensive medical history and he isn't eating well and lethargic, I would strongly recommend to have your vet take a look at him asap. Your vet will be able to do a fecal, blood work and even x-rays if needed. They will be able to recommend the best treatment plan for him to help him feel better! I hope this helps!

This is a quite generic but concerning sign. Differentials are many, from gastrointestinal or urinary tract diseases (infection/inflammations often dietary related) to any disease that can spread systemically (causing lethargy and hyperthermia for example) like infection, and anything that can cause pain/discomfort. The approach must be logic. A check up is needed if lethargy lasts for more than 24hours. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

I am so sorry to hear about your poor yorkie. First, I want to applaud you for allowing the veterinarian to perform diagnostic testing in the form of x-rays and bloodwork. This is a great first step and can provide them with a baseline in case they need to do further testing in the future. Unfortunately, there are still so many diseases or conditions that a dog can get that will not show up on an x-ray or routine bloodwork. For example, gastrointestinal diseases like inflammatory bowel disease do not show up positive with only x-rays and routine bloodwork. Another example is if your dog is In pain for some reason such as a muscle pull or they hurt their back while jumping on the couch, etc. pain can cause a dog to exhibit all of the clinical signs that your dog is showing such as not eating, not drinking, and not playing at all. And pain cannot be diagnosed in x-rays or bloodwork. The point being that there are so many different diseases and ailments that a yorkie can get that just won’t show up with routine testing and may need specialized further testing modalities. My advice is the following: if he is not showing signs of improvement within 24 hours, please take him back to the veterinarian to do further testing or even start IV fluid’s and other supportive treatments. If he is getting better, I would still call the veterinarian and give them an update on the condition to see if they want to recommend anything else you can do to help him at home. I hope this helps.

I would definitely recommend some blood work, if this hasn't been done recently. Older dogs are prone to a number of health issues that can cause decreased appetite along with being less active - chronic kidney disease and hypothyroidism are two possibilities that are both very common. In many cases, these issues are treatable (at least to some extent) once a diagnosis is made, so it's well worth checking for them if you can - hopefully, there are some things you can do to make him feel better for as long as possible, even though he's getting older.

Thank you for contacting Pet Coach with your question about Leo. Unfortunately his anorexia and lethargy are very general signs of illness, and could be caused by things such a systemic illness, infection, inflammation, or injury. The constipation could be due to dehydration, a foreign body, not enough fiber in the diet, lack of exercise, enlarged prostate gland, a mass in the GI tract, or blocked or abscessed anal sacs. The trembling could be due to pain or fever. Given he has a number of symptoms that all together could be caused by something serious, I think it's best you take him into a vet asap to get checked out. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Loss of appetite, lethargy and pain can be observed with many conditions such as gastroenteritis, dietary indiscretion, kidney disease, pancreatitis, among many other possibilities. These are serious signs and a veterinary evaluation is needed to know what is causing these and what would be best to treat it with. I recommend that you have Oscar evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They would be able to check for these possibilities and others depending on the findings on exam. Treatment would be based on findings. Good luck and have a great day! Hoping for a speedy recovery!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry to hear Thor isn't feeling well, While it is possible that Thor may have a cold, I would be concerned by his lethargy and not wanting to eat. At his age, we do become concerned about several possibilities, including kidney disease, liver disease, GI issues, diabetes, or a growth of some kind. If he does not improve within 24 hours or begins to worsen, I would recommend he be evaluated by his regular veterinarian, have any necessary testing done (xrays, bloodwork) to determine what may be going on, and start any treatment that may be needed to help resolve it. Good luck!